Pekin Trio Move on To Districts

On their path to Iowa Class 1A Sectional Championships last Saturday, Feb. 6, Pekin teammates Michael Jones and Mason Juhl both accomplished career milestones. 

With his first period pin over Trent Terrell of Waco in the 138-pound finals, Jones, a senior,  earned his 100th career victory and punched his ticket to the District tournament this coming Saturday, Feb. 13. 

The victory was preceded by a victory by pin over Jacob Moore in the semifinals. 

Juhl, who is also a senior, became the school's all-time leader in wins with his 12-1 decision victory over Aidan Schuster of Sigourney Keota in the finals of the 182-pound tournament. 

His first victory of the tournament was an 18 second pin over Brock Lewman of Cardinal. 

Having two seniors reach career milestones while qualifying for the Iowa Class 1A District 5 tournament this Saturday, Feb. 13 in Pleasantville was something Pekin head coach Al Chapman was more than happy to see. 

“We were expecting both Mason and Michael to win today but we always remind them to go one match at a time, because you never know what’s going to happen,” Chapman said. “They both got those extra bonuses with their wins today so that’s a good feeling heading into Districts.”

Joining Jones and Juhl at the District tournament this Saturday will be fellow senior Cael Baker who placed second in the 152-pound division. 

“When you take three seniors, what more can you ask. They're all focused and we're going to continue to remind them that they all placed bronze at Districts last year, we want to make sure we stay focused going into Saturday,” Chapman said. 

Baker pinned Talan Zickefoose of Sigourney Keota in the semifinals before being pinned by Josh Glendening of New London in the finals. 

“Cael is gaining on Glendening, we’ve wrestled him close to five times now. So, we anticipated that match and changed some things up and Cael held his own in the first period just fell short in the second. Next week at Districts we’re looking to get that win to get the higher seed at State,” Chapman said. 

Junior Bailey Frescoln, the Panthers lone state qualifier in 2020, found himself in a tough bracket in the 145-pound division. After pinning Darrin Coffman of Van Buren in the first round, Frescoln fell to Jackson Cobb of Waco. In his final match of the season Frescoln lost a hard fought, back and forth match with North Mahaska’s Wyatt VanWheelden 8-7. 

Sophomores Blake Juhl (170 pounds) and Logan Baker (126 pounds) both earned third place finishes in their respective weight classes.